29 December 2009

City Bakery's Maury Rubin e-mailed me today, asking if Vesuvio Bakery—the landmark, Irish-green storefront in SoHo that he recently brought back to life as Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery—might be taken off my home page tally of "Recently Lost Landmarks." Though the true Vesuvio is indeed lost forever, he has a point that the space is now back in operation, and in its original capacity as a bakery, so I agree to amend the listing.

He also sent me some super-cool photos of the coal-fired ovens built into the earth underneath 160 Prince Street. (The photos were taken by Chris Callis.) Looks like an archeological dig you might find in some ancient town in southern Italy. Love the fine pyrometer by L. Mueller of tiny Cliff Street (one block long) in downtown Manhattan.

fantastic. I think it would be lost if the facade was gone, and the business a hipster joint. Well it does serve cookies. But the fact that it is a working bakery is a coup in my opinion. People just don't eat large quantities of bread anymore.

The original, running Jeremiad on the vestiges of Old New York as they are steamrolled under or threatened by the currently ruthless real estate market and the City Fathers' disregard for Gotham's historical and cultural fabric. Est. January 2006.Contact Me

About Me

I have lived in New York City since 1988 and earn my bread as a writer. I began this blog in January 2006. Beyond that, don't be so nosy.
"I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism."
—Roberto Rossellini